This tree is in a median for the entrance to my neighborhood, I think it’s a Red Oak. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though. I know it’s some type of Oak, because of the acorns it drops every year. Anyhow it’s the first of the trees to start putting on it’s fall finery every Autumn, long before the Maples etc… I love the brilliant orange & red tones, soon it will look like it’s on fire. It’s one of the views from my kitchen window which is perfect in my opinion. Hope everyone has a nice weekend in or out of the garden. I intend to be in the garden weather permitting of course. :) I’m going to link up with the Fall Color Project 2011 which is hosted by Dave @ Growing the Home Garden. If you want to share some fall foliage too you can click on the link below:

September has brought some cooler morning & evening temperatures. Along with that comes some of my favorite fall blooms & berries. Violas, Sedums and Lirope bring color and add interest to the garden. The purple berries on Beautyberry or Callicarpa americana make a striking combo against the lime green foliage of this native ornamental shrub. Viburnum ‘Winterthur’ is another native shrub that produces berries that start out a off white color and fade to pink and eventually to a deep blue tone. This has been a bountiful season for these two shrubs, both are loaded with berries for the birds. My Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’ is in it’s 3rd season and full of blooms that are maturing to a dusty rose color. And it wouldn’t be fall without some fall veggies like this great loose-leaf lettuce ‘Black-seeded Simpson’ which I planted with some of those pretty purple Violas. To see more Bloomin’ Tuesday posts or to join in this week, please visit our gracious host Jean by clicking on the link below:

Lots of stuff blooming this week. It’s been hot as heck out there and you can tell which plants love the heat and which ones could use a break from it. The Roses aren’t very happy right now, other than this miniature pink one that’s in a container in a semi-shady bed. However the Pineapple Lily, Salvia ‘Black & Blue’ and Lantana ‘Miss Huff’ are happy as can be and pushing out blooms like there’s no tomorrow. I love ‘Miss Huff’ so much, wish I could find another Lantana that was hardy in my zone 7b garden. She stands up to drought, heat, you name it. This Scabiosa seems more creamy white than yellow to me, but that’s the name it was given. I had a few other colors at one point but they have disappeared while ‘Yellow Sun” just keeps coming back year after year. It’s even reseeded itself in a few spots, but doesn’t seem to be a thug about it. The amount of blooms that my Beauty Berry shrub is producing this year is astounding and I can already tell I’m going to have tons of those gorgeous purple berries this fall as well. :) To see what’s blooming in other gardens this week or if you would like to join in, please visit our gracious host Jean by clicking on the icon link below:

This will be the third season in the garden for my Hydrangea ‘Pinky Winky’. It has never looked better or produced so many blooms. Their not fully open yet, but I’m expecting great things from this ornamental shrub this year. Here’s hoping…

Dwarf Barberry 'Sunjoy Gold Beret'

This is the second season in the garden for this tiny Berberis thunbergii. It’s starting to form a nice mound of gold next to this unknown variegated Hosta. I just think it’s so cute and would probably work well in a large container as well since it only gets about 6-12″ tall and 18″ wide at most. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday weekend!🙂

Purples and Pinks are strutting their stuff this week in my garden. From the bright hot pink blooms of this ornamental Crepe Myrtle tree to the the softer lavender blooms of Society Garlic. Crepe Myrtles are a commonly planted ornamental tree here and they bloom all summer long in shades of pink, red, white and lavender. Mine is one of the most common colors of all but I love it anyhow. It was an existing plant on the property when we purchased this house 14 years ago and one of only a handful that I kept. This Phlox is something I’ve had for a long time too and extremely tough. My Pineapple Lily (Eucomis comosa) is budding up. Isn’t this a fun plant?

Here’s another set of popular colors in my garden (yellow, orange & white). The Buddleia or Butterfly Bush is blooming a bit early this year, not complaining though. I moved my small pot of Profusion Zinnias & Sweet Alyssum into this larger container in the Woodland Garden. Now they can stretch their roots a bit further. ;) Two of my biggest performers this week are Lantana ‘Miss Huff’ and Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans). They both attract the butterflies and the Goldfinches love the seedhead on the Black-eyed Susans in the fall. Wish their was another Lantana that was hardy in my zone 7b garden. To see more Bloomin’ Tuesday posts or to join in this week please visit Ms Greenthumb.